Garlic Dill Pickles

So, I'll let you in on a little secret my friends... I love pickles. Salty, and tangy, and crunchy Oh My!

We joined a CSA this year for fresh vegetables and I have gotten pickling cucumbers twice now. And both times I have turned them into pickles. The first batch tasted great but were entirely too salty. This is why we experiment! The second batch has a slightly different flavor, but I think they are delicious. And have a little bite to them, which I love in a pickle.

Quick & Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups water
1-1/2 Tbl kosher salt
3 Tbl apple cider vinegar {can also use white vinegar}
2 tsp black peppercorns
Optional: 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, celery seeds
1 large bunch of fresh dill
~6 Garlic cloves, smashed {I love a good, garlicky pickle, so I used about 3 large cloves per jar}
3-1/2 cups pickling cucumbers*

Instructions:

1. Combine water, salt, vinegar, peppercorns and the optional ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat to a boil, turn down and simmer for a few minutes until the salt dissolves completely. Set aside to cool a bit. 
2. Meanwhile, cut your cukes. I actually like a combination of rounds and spears, because I find they fit into the jars a bit better when there are different shaped pieces to work with. Whatever tickles your fancy. 
3. Using pint sized mason jars, you will begin by placing a big ol' handful of fresh dill and one or two smashed garlic cloves. 
4. Fill your jars with cucumber pieces, making sure that you leave at least an inch at the top to ensure proper coverage when you add the brine. 
5. Add more dill and another clove of garlic. Here, you can also add a few more spices but because we cooked the flavor into the brine, it is not necessary. 
6. Fill your jars with the brine, making sure to cover the cucumbers completely. I recommend not filling to the brim, also, due to the cucumbers giving off a bit of liquid during the process of turning into pickles. 
7. I, personally, let it finish cooling before I top and put in the fridge, but you can do this a few different ways. You can screw on the lids now, and throw 'em right into the refrigerator. You can leave them on the counter for 2-3 days before putting away. Either way, though: you should wait at least 1 week before tasting. 

Notes

• This recipe makes 2 jars of pickles but you can easily double, triple, quadruple it! 
• You can use regular cucumbers for this recipe also, the most important thing is for them to be fresh! TIP: you know pickling cucumbers were picked at the right time when they are super bumpy.
• Personally, I don't think dried dill would substitute, but if you want to try let me know if it works!
• I love garlic, but you could cut back to 1 1/2-2 cloves per jar
• I also love spicy pickles. I used more red pepper flakes than noted above and the brine got super spicy. From here, I actually went one step further and strained the red pepper flakes out before adding the brine to the jars. The pickles definitely came out with a kick from the heat in the brine. I don't know that they would have tasted good if I didn't do that. So, definitely don't go overboard with the red pepper flakes unless you feel like removing them from the brine which was a pain in the you know what.